(Photo: provided by Naomi Hunter)
Voting week kicked off today in Saskatchewan and MBC News has been reaching out to candidates running in the provincial election over the past few weeks.
Below you will find a transcript from the interview MBC News conducted with Green Party leader, Naomi Hunter well as the full-length interview audio.
*Note- At the time of publishing this article, MBC News hasn’t yet received a response from the Sask Party.
MBC News: Naomi, can you just tell me a little bit about yourself, please?
Naomi Hunter: I am 51 years old. I’m a single mother. I come from a very impoverished background. My mom was a single mom, and I think that a lot of that early upbringing influenced me getting into politics.
I got involved in activism as a teenager, for the environment and social justice, and it just always seemed like I was trying to get some politician to care. And so, I reached a certain point where I was like, you know what, I need to step into politics because we need politicians who already care about these issues.
MBC News: And then kind of my first question is just, you know, in the province, the cost of living has gone up quite a bit in the last few years and especially in the north where the prices are already high. What would you do if elected to help northerners and people across the province with the cost of living?
Naomi Hunter: Inflation is out of control right now, and we actually feel that by fixing the massive problems of poverty in our province, it would help the entire province. Like, poverty is extremely expensive. And so, the Saskatchewan Greens want to bring in a guaranteed livable income which will be similar to the CERB that we saw during COVID 19 where people will receive a top up to help them with day-to-day needs as well. We feel that the PST should have been cut right away. Both the Sask Party and the NDP are talking about cutting federal taxes which makes no sense.
We don’t understand why Scott Moe who has control of the PST didn’t cut that immediately and, more than that, we need to cap rent increases. We need to actually make sure that nobody freezes to death on our streets this winter. So, the Greens are really focused on solutions to poverty. We want to transition people into permanent housing and deal with the fact that poverty is actually causing a huge drain on the rest of our system. We need to help people and make sure that nobody is suffering that way.
MBC News: And another big issue is also just the mental health and addictions crisis. And then that can also go into, you know, a big rise in homelessness across the province. Kind of what do you feel the root causes are of mental health and addictions in the province and how would you kind of aim to address those issues?’
Naomi Hunter: Right now, I know so many people who are trying to get help with mental health and addictions, and the waiting lists are incredible. Now imagine you’re a family member trying to help somebody and you get told, well, you know, to get into an addiction center, it’s a 6 month to a 2 year wait and the same with mental health care.
We need free and available mental health care from cradle to grave because the suicide rates in our province are at an epidemic level, and we feel that this is health care. Making sure we have dental health care is health care. We would bring in more safe consumption sites. We feel that, also making sure that shelters aren’t based on whether or not people are using substances. People deserve to be housed whether they are using or not and right now so many services in this province are tied to people already having dealt with their addiction and mental health issues, and we need to make sure that we have more of these services available.
It’s just it it’s so chronically underfunded at the moment that people can’t get the help they need and then in desperation, they’re turning to suicide. And that’s just not a solution anyone should ever turn to.
MBC News: And then in the north too, kind of access to health care is a big concern for them because a lot of individuals have to travel hundreds of kilometers just to see their nearest service provider. So, if elected, how would you help the north with better access to health care?
Naomi Hunter: Well, in our platform, actually all these things are in our platform, and we really feel that health care has become more and more centralized and defunded so that it will encourage privatization, and we would like to see a real revitalization of health care in rural areas especially the north.
I know I’m not even that far north where I help my dad with our hascap orchard. And, like, the health center there, which used to be a full hospital, now only has a doctor from 2:30 to 5:30 Tuesdays and Thursdays. And it’s pretty impossible to make sure that you’re only injured during those hours. And so then any other time, you’re transported to either PA or Saskatoon if something happens. And in the north, it’s even worse.
So, we need to make sure that people are able to access family care where they live. I would like to stop the funding per service model that doctors are paid on in Saskatchewan right now because it discourages people from living in the communities where they work and being small family doctors. They end up wanting to work in hospitals and bigger centers because then they’re paid on payroll. They actually, get, like, a normal paycheck instead of, like, per service that they provide and when they’re a small family doctor, they are also expected to be more like a small business. They have to have an office, pay staff, power bills, all that kind of thing. Whereas I want us to move to a system like BC, it has been tried out in the last couple of years where they actually put family doctors as well as those in hospitals, like family doctors and physicians and medic centers on payroll. So, this is a big incentive and a logical step that Saskatchewan should do. As well, we need to partner with the federal government like Manitoba did. There is funding out there, just right now our current government doesn’t want to be accountable for where it goes. So, we need to access federal money and actually improve our health care system. Let’s cooperate and and fix this problem in Saskatchewan.
MBC News: And another top priority for lots of people in the province and, you know, in the north as well is, education. So, if elected, kind of, how would you support education in the province, specifically in the north? And, also, what are your thoughts on last year’s teachers strike with the province?
Naomi Hunter: I’m 100% behind the teachers, and I think that Saskatchewan needs to listen to the needs of those teachers and deal with the fact that the repeated concerns about class size and complexity are very tight and right now we have class sizes where people frequently have 35 students whose needs are way more complex than what I would have experienced when I was a child going to school.
So we need to limit class size, make sure that teachers have more help in the classroom, and basically we need to stop underfunding health care. Since the Sask Party took power, they took away the power of local school boards to dictate taxation in their areas and while they keep talking about all kinds of other solutions to these problems, we do have the lowest investment in health care in the country right now and so we actually do need to to build, we actually need to inject some finances into our health care system but we need to listen to the other demands of teachers, some of my candidates are actually teachers aids. I have one woman who I’ve got to know quite well over the last few years, and she has frequent injuries like she’s she was just off work for 6 weeks because of a child biting through her hand and she has a permanent injury to her wrist and elbow from another child. And so, teachers are dealing with situations that we would have thought unthinkable 30 years ago, and we need to give them the tools to thrive.
MBC News: Another issue is just infrastructure, especially in the north. So, kind of how would you lobby for better roads and access to communities?
Naomi Hunter: I know. That road out to Cumberland, like, you could you could swallow a car on there. It’s been on the news. Everybody talks about this, and everybody knows, you know, some little road in Nowhereville, Saskatchewan that is paved all the time and yet northern roads don’t get the attention that they deserve.
This is a human rights issue and everything from groceries to health care to just being able to go and see family is affected by the poor roads in the north. And it needs to be a priority now. No more glory projects. I’m just horrified over the fact that we could have fixed all the roads in Northern Saskatchewan if we stopped making unnecessary bypasses around our major cities. First of all, that Regina bypass that went so far over budget, now they’re talking about one in Saskatoon. Just stop with these glory projects and we need as a province, I am absolutely 100% committed to building the roads we actually need, which is in the far north.
MBC News: Also, in recent years, some indigenous groups have raised concerns over some of the policies passed by the provincial government that they say kind of failed to consult and accommodate Indigenous people. You know, like selling crown lands and the Saskatchewan First Act. Kind of what are your thoughts on these policies and what would be your plan to prioritize consulting Indigenous groups if elected?
Naomi Hunter: I think that more than consultation needs to happen. The Saskatchewan Greens adopted a policy that I put forward called the rights of mother earth that leads to indigenous, respecting indigenous wisdom. And then after that was adopted by our party, we set up a policy and procedure committee that rewrote every piece of policy of our party over the last 30 years and had elders look at it and work with us and give consultation. Half of my executives are indigenous and half of my candidates are indigenous or Metis. And I feel that, infrastructure projects, investment projects, all the development that happens instead of constantly talking about consultation, First Nations people should actually be first.
They should be at the table, and it should be a partnership because we haven’t even dealt with some of the issues of ownership and treaty and the land should go back. This crown land was never the Sask Party’s to sell off and I feel that it was a violation of all treaty rights for that to happen and that we need to do better as a province. Maclean’s Magazine and the University of Regina put out a study in an article saying that in Saskatchewan in 287 positions of power like mayor, judge, all those kinds of things, shockingly few people are indigenous and so I’ve now we the Saskatchewan Greens have run a slate of 50% Indigenous candidates and we’re not getting the media attention or the recognition that that deserves. My candidates are important and deserve to be seen.
MBC News: And then kind of another issue that’s come up recently especially, is just on the National Day For Truth and Reconciliation just last month, two justice workers in Meadow Lake were sent home for wearing orange and then that kind of that kind of sparked Tribal Councils and Grand Councils to kind of really want the provincial government to push for the day to be a statutory holiday. So, what were your thoughts on that situation, and would you push for the provincial government to make it a provincial holiday?
Naomi Hunter: 100%, And I am embarrassed that it’s not already. I voluntarily shut my work down for that day, and I think that everyone else should be, but I think it should be enforced provincially. And it’s an incredible mistake on the part of the NDP and Sask Party who should have voted that in already.
MBC News: And kind of how has the campaign been going so far for you?
Naomi Hunter: You know what? It has been a really, really difficult election. This time, this is the hardest election probably the Saskatchewan Greens have ever had. The chief electoral officer recommended that candidate nomination fees go from 100 to $500 each.
And then the NDP and Sask Party voted unanimously. No one contradicted this, agreeing that this should happen. And we’re a small party of environmental and social justice activists. We don’t have a lot of money. We’re actually the poorest party in the entire province, and we run a lot of marginalized candidates.
So, it took every single penny we had just to put these candidates on the ballot and then the government holds on to that money until after the election. So, we can’t campaign. It’s been really frustrating because normally during an election, we put all the candidates on the ballot. It costs $6,100 and we don’t have barely anything left, but we’re able to at least give our candidates some lawn signs, some flyers. We have a billboard or two up in the province of our leader.
None of that this election, unless people are willing and able to self fund or received a few donations, they don’t have any of those materials this election. And so we really feel that our voices have been suppressed this election.
MBC News: When you’re speaking to members of communities and, you know, door knocking, kind of what are the main areas that residents are saying they want improvement in?
Naomi Hunter: Poverty. I’m having a lot of people really resonate with the fact that we are the only par party really talking about ending homelessness, rapidly transitioning people into a Housing First policy like they have in Finland, making sure that all the income support province, programs in this province are actually up to a livable level.
Right now, they’re very far below what would be considered a livable baseline and I find that poverty relief is the biggest thing that people are resonating with as well, of course, health care and education are top of mind but I find even people who aren’t necessarily in a lower income bracket are experiencing economic pinch right now and it’s probably the number one thing I’m hearing because I’ve been to so many areas of the province talking to people, helping support my candidates to get on to the ballot. And this is what I’m hearing at doorsteps over and over and over is that people just can’t make their dollars stretch right now.
MBC News: Well, thank you, Naomi. Was there anything else that you would like to add?
Naomi Hunter: Well, it’s time to vote. Early voting starts today and goes on until the 28th. And I would just ask you if either of the two parties that you see in the legislature right now are offering enough change or if you would like to see something really different happen in this province. I would urge people to vote Green.